The Museum of the Future stands on Sheikh Zayed Road in Dubai and opened on 22 February 2022. It is not a conventional museum of historical objects: it is conceived as an institution for futures studies, design and technology, combining exhibition floors with research and residency programmes.
The building
The structure is a hollow torus — a ring shape with a void through the middle — designed by the architectural studio Killa Design. The exterior is clad in panels carrying Arabic calligraphy, composed of aphorisms about the future; the script is formed as a continuous flowing line across the facade rather than as conventional panels of text.
The building has no corners in the conventional sense, and its glass-fibre-reinforced panels were produced individually to fit the curved surface. The interior is organised as a vertical sequence of themed floors, connected by spiral circulation.
What is inside
The exhibition floors are themed around possible futures — space, ecology, health and wellbeing — and use immersive installations and interactive exhibits rather than display cases of artefacts. There are also a children's floor, a research centre and a programme of events and residencies with designers and scientists.
Place in Dubai's development
The museum forms part of a group of cultural and civic projects — with the Burj Khalifa, the Dubai Opera and the Jameel Arts Centre — that the emirate has developed to broaden its cultural offering beyond shopping and events.